There was no one cooler than Wild Thing when he walked out to his theme song.

Team Name on the front.

Vaughn 99 on the back.

Charlie Sheen starred as Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn in Major League 1 & 2. Sheen himself was a pitcher on his high school’s baseball team. At the time of filming Major League, his own fastball topped out at 85 miles per hour. (In 2011, Sheen said that he had used steroids for nearly two months to improve his athletic abilities in the film.)[5]

When he joined the Cubs in 1989 (the same year the film was released), pitcher Mitch Williams’ extravagant wind-up and release, and his frequent wild pitches, earned him the nickname “Wild Thing.” As with Rick Vaughn’s character, the Wrigley Field organist played “Wild Thing” as Williams came out of the bullpen. A few years later, in 1993 with the Phillies, Williams started wearing the number 99 on his jersey, the same number that Vaughn wears in the film.[11]

The film became an inspiration for the real Cleveland Indians and the city, given the long-standing Cleveland sports curse that had left Cleveland without any sporting championships since 1964. Between 1995 and 2001, the team reached the playoff several times and went to the World Series twice, though losing both times.[3]

In the years since its release Major League has become a beloved film of many professional baseball players and announcers, and is often referenced during game broadcasts. For example, in 2014, for the film’s 25th anniversary, Major League catcher David Ross filmed a one-man tribute to the film, with Ross playing the part (among others) of Lou Brown, Pedro Cerrano, Willie Mays Hayes, Rick Vaughn, and Roger Dorn.[12] Additionally, as part of their 2014 “Archives” set, the trading card company Topps celebrated the film’s 25th anniversary by creating baseball cards (using the same design as the company’s 1989 base set) of Roger Dorn, Jake Taylor, Eddie Harris, Rachel Phelps, Rick Vaughn, and “Jobu.”[13]

Soon after the films 25th anniversary in 2015, the character Jobu (Pedro Cerrano’s voodoo figure) was immortalized and produced by a company called “The Jobu Lifestyle.” The packaging is a reference to Cerrano’s locker that made up Jobu’s shrine.[14][15] (Wikipedia)

Shirseymon Go
Welp, this is the best thing ever. From MLB.com’s Cut 4’s Michael Claire earlier this week in San Diego:
“While you watched Giancarlo Stanton obliterate baseballs at the T-Mobile Home Run Derby and Dellin Betances throw heat at the All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, there was still one other game… read more

Jul 14, 2016 at 5:04pm

Uni Watch T-Shirt Club ShirseysOur friend Paul Lukas and the good folks over at Uni Watch are releasing a line of shirseys on Teespring, with a new version coming out every month. Each T-Shirt Club design will only be available for 10 days, however (this is how Teespring works), so be sure to follow… read more